TWO-HORNED RHINOCEROS. 115 
Ills liorse from the ground, and dash them in pieces 
against the surrounding* trees. 
° The eyes, of the rhinoceros are very small ; 
he seldom turns his head, and therefore sees no- 
thing but what is before him. To this he owes 
his death, and never escapes if there is so much 
plain as to enable the horse to get before him. 
His pride and fury then make him lay aside all 
thoughts of escaping, but by victory over Ins 
enemy. He stands for a moment at bay : then, at 
a start, runs straight forward at the horse, like 
the wild boar, which, in his manner of action, he 
very much resembles. The horse easily avoids 
him by turning short to one side ; and this is the 
fatal instant : the naked man, with the sword, 
drops from behind the principal horseman, and, 
unseen by the rhinoceros, who is seeking his ene- 
my, the horse, he gives him a stroke across the 
tendon of the heel, which renders him incapable of 
further flight or resistance. 
In speaking of the great quantity of food ne- 
cessary to support this enormous mass, we must 
likewise consider the vast quantity of water which 
he needs. No country but that of Shangalla, which 
lie possesses, deluged with six months rain, find full 
of large and deep basons, made in the living rock, 
and shaded by dark woods from evaporation, or 
watered by large and deep rivers, which never fall 
low or to a state of dryness, can supply the vast 
draughts of this monstrous creature ; but it is not 
for drinking alone that he frequents wet and marshy 
places ; large, fierce, and strong as he is, he must 
submit to prepare himself against the weakest of 
his adversaries. The great consumption he con- 
stantly makes of food and water, necessarily con- 
fines him to certain limited spaces ; for it is not 
every place that can maintain him ; he cannot 
emigrate or seek his defence among tfye sands of 
